FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT KANGAROO ISLAND - PAGE 2

One of the most welcoming areas in the world for the backpacking budget traveler is Australia, which offers many special services specifically for this type of visitor. While North American tourism representatives lament, "But they don't spend any money," Australia has done studies to prove that Down Under, it's just not true. According to a recent report in the Sydney Morning Herald, research has indicated that backpackers will actually contribute more to the economy than the "traditional" tourist, and are a boon for regional Australia.

The Australian government stepped in Tuesday to scuttle a proposal to cull up to 2,000 koalas on an Australian wildlife sanctuary island, a plan that sparked an outcry from animal lovers. Environment Minister Robert Hill said the government would coordinate a national program to relocate the marsupials despite warnings by South Australian wildlife officials that they could die of stress if moved to the mainland. The New South Wales government has offered to take the threatened koalas, a federal government spokesman said.

Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report , the monthly newsletter reviewing chichi accommodations and restaurants worldwide, is out with its 2012 Grand Award winners, and - tadaaaaaa - Chicago's Trump International Hotel & Tower was named Grand Hotel of the year. If you've never had the Trump experience and can't afford a room, wait for warm weather and go have a martini on the terrace of its Sixteen restaurant. With that stunning view of the river, you'll want to nurse that drink all night.

1. AUSTRALIA Fires on South Australia's Kangaroo Island burned for more than a week scorching 115 square miles of scrub and wilderness, with one fire in the Flinders Chase National Park still burning out of control Dec. 12. Tourism operators urged visitors not to cancel their trips to the popular island following moves to reopen unaffected tourist areas and national parks. 2. COLOMBIA The U.S. Embassy in Bogota reported that wooded hiking trails in and around the city have been the scene of violent armed robberies of U.S. citizens in the past two months.

A Mexican crater in Chicxulub often cited as evidence that an asteroid killed off the dinosaurs may not have been involved in that extinction at all, according to a Princeton University study on sediment that suggests the crater was created 300,000 years before the extinction. OFFICERS RESCUE 160: Police stormed a town in southern Egypt on Monday, freeing at least 160 hostages and ending a six-day standoff with a band of drug and weapons traffickers, authorities said. Forty-three suspects were captured during the standoff.

TOKYO, March 22 (Reuters) - With the thawing of winter in many parts of the world, animals and humans alike are starting to wake up and get outside. Members of VirtualTourist.com, a leading travel website, compiled a list of the "Top 10 Places to See Animals in the Wild. " This list has not been endorsed by Reuters: 1.Serengeti National Park - Tanzania Northern Tanzania provides more opportunities to see large numbers of animals in the wild than possibly any other spot in the world.

By James Grubel CANBERRA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Australia created the world's largest network of marine national parks on Friday, protecting an area of ocean the size of Western Europe in a move which will prevent oil and gas exploration and commercial fishing in the most sensitive areas. Environment Minister Tony Burke said the decision would protect 2.3 million square kilometers (888,035 square miles) of ocean, including the tropical Coral Sea off the north Queensland coast and coral reefs off Australia's southwest, and help support endangered sea life.

We saw this morning, thanks to chef Tom Colicchio's tweet, that Qantas is offering unlimited flights to South Australia for a year via a sweepstakes. Which made us wonder – it's at least three legs to get to Adelaide from Chicago (Chicago to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Sydney, Sydney to Adelaide) and a minimum of 24 hours in flight time and layovers ... how many times could you do it in a year? South Australia would be a lot of fun, if only for its massive wine country (from McClaren Vale to Barossa Valley, etc.)